At a party meeting on Monday Dr Jacobs moved a motion for a spill which, if successful, would have resulted in the leadership position of the Liberal Party being declared vacant.

The move came after Mr Buswell admitted to sniffing the chair of a female colleague, an act Dr Jacobs described as totally inappropriate and unacceptable.

However the motion failed in what was believed to be an extremely close vote, resulting in Mr Buswell retaining his position as parliamentary leader of the Liberal party.

The failure of the spill motion could have had serious repercussions for Dr Jacobs.

He was the Liberal Party whip from March 2005 until August 2006, and the election of Mr Buswell as Liberal party leader in January this year saw him return to that position, as well as being handed the shadow environmental portfolio.

The failure of the spill could have easily seen him stripped of those two positions and sent to the backbench, leaving him with an uncertain political future.

On Monday, Dr Jacobs said that while it hadn’t been confirmed, he was confident of staying on the front bench, and acknowledged that he knew he ran the risk of losing his standing in the party by moving the spill motion.

Dr Jacobs has since confirmed he has retained his position as the party whip and the shadow environmental portfolio.

“Now it is time to put this behind us and focus on keeping the government accountable for their actions,” Dr Jacobs said.